Last week my friend Mark Galli wrote a post on the need for more pastors who loved and shepherded their congregations as chaplains. I attend a funeral on Saturday and saw this happen in the most amazing way I’ve ever witnessed. I wish I had a DVD of what I saw. Every pastor in America should learn how to be a chaplain in a funeral service. Then my friend Tod Bolsinger wrote a great response suggesting that what we needed is a missional leader(s), not chaplains. I agree, to a point, but I also found myself thinking this is not a both/and but an either/or. Then this morning Michael Mercer, the Internet Monk, responded and expressed my thoughts perfectly. Three friends all engaging one other in respect and humility. This is truly one of the finest dialogs among Christian leaders I’ve read in a long, long time.

One response to ““Chaplaincy” role(s) for pastors? For congregations?”

I’m not sure what the fuss is about. In parish ministry, I saw myself as a chaplain and a shepherd. Shepherds lead the flock, they don’t drive it from behind. They go back to look for the strays. They don’t rest until all the sheep and lambs are in the barn. They take the flock to good pasture, and in the winter months, provide healthy feed and clean water. They listen to the sheep and pay attention to what the sheep sense and hear. I can go on, but it is a fairly simple metaphor. The problem I ran into is that the steward of the flocks (read: bishop) didn’t agree with some of what I did. Church politics had a lot to do with it, as you know. There should be no politics among shepherds. Our one goal is the good of the sheep, in obedience to the Good Shepherd..

I see you may let people who aren’t named Armstrong into this discussion…(My former surname was Armstrong.)

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